The Grosh Brothers

Ethan
Allen and Hosea Ballou Grosh were brothers who mined in both California
and Nevada. They worked in California in the winter then crossed
the Sierra to Carson Valley in the summer. They made their way to
Gold Canyon and, along with many other hopeful prospectors, searched for
the claim that would make them rich.

The Grosh brothers were a
bit different in their approach to mining. Unlike most miners, who
looked only for gold, Ethan and Hosea were also looking for silver.
They found silver, a strike they described as the "monster ledge," in the
Silver City area, but did not live to develop their discovery. In
late summer of 1857, Hosea had an accident with a pick, and died after
his foot became badly infected. His brother also came to a tragic
end: his feet were frozen when he and a friend were caught in a snowstorm
trying to cross the Sierra. He did not want his legs amputated and
died in December, 1857.

The names of the Grosh brothers
have been remembered in history because they came so close to finding the
fabulous wealth of the Comstock Lode. But in truth they were like
so many other miners of the West, who toiled in harsh conditions and searched
for the ore that would make them wealthy, but who never found the one big
strike. It could be a dangerous way to live, and many, like Ethan
and Hosea Grosh, died in the cold of snowy mountains or the heat of the
dry dusty desert.